Airbag Injury Attorneys in Dallas, TX

Airbags can save lives in the event of a collision, but they don’t always deploy or work as intended. Millions of cars made by 19 automakers have been recalled to replace defective frontal airbags that could deploy explosively and injure or kill vehicle occupants. Many of those cars with faulty airbags may still be on the road. If you were hurt due to a defectively designed, manufactured, or installed airbag, you could be owed compensation from the manufacturer.

Seeking compensation for a defective airbag claim can be challenging. There could be multiple responsible parties along the supply chain, and determining liability can be complex. Fortunately, with the assistance of an experienced product liability lawyer, you can hold any and all parties accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.

The team at Kraft & Associates, P.C., has extensive experience handling defective product cases, including airbag injury claims. We have the skills and resources necessary to build a convincing case on your behalf, and our goal will be to get you the full compensation you’re owed.

We represent clients on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t pay us anything until we win your case. Call Kraft & Associates, P.C., at 214-999-9999 or fill out a contact form to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with a Dallas airbag injury lawyer.

Common injuries Caused by Airbags

Multiple studies have shown that airbags can save lives and prevent serious injuries. But in some cases, they malfunction, deploy improperly and cause injuries. If you have been injured by an airbag in a collision in Dallas, you should have a knowledgeable airbag injury lawyer review the incident and discuss your legal options.

Airbags are typically designed to protect an average adult man. This means that they don’t always provide the same protections for anyone who isn’t the same size and shape as a fit 25-year-old man. This includes women, children, shorter adults, tall adults, pregnant women, and the elderly.

Airbag injuries can be classified into the following categories:

• Airbag malfunction. The airbag suddenly deploys when it shouldn’t. Such events can cause serious accidents because the driver is suddenly unable to see or operate the vehicle. Alternately, the airbag may fail to deploy when it should, causing severe injuries.
• The airbag deployed as designed, but it still caused injuries. Most of these injuries are due to design flaws, like failure to account for different sized occupants. These types of injuries most commonly affect women, children, and the elderly. Such injuries can include abrasions, burns, fractures of the upper extremities, contusions, damage to internal organs, wrist and hand injuries, traumatic brain injury, internal bleeding, eye injuries, hearing loss, and others.
• User error. Airbags are only designed to provide protection if the person is also wearing a seatbelt. If the occupant isn’t buckled in, the airbag is far more likely to kill or injure than provide any degree of protection. Airbags are not designed to protect children, so children under twelve should never sit in the front seat of a car.

Newer airbags have been redesigned to use a lower level of explosive power and provide better protection to a broader segment of the human population. But injuries may still occur.

What Happens When Your Airbags Deploy, and How Do They Work?

Before the invention and enforcement of seatbelt and shoulder restraints, it was common for occupants of cars to be thrown around the cabin or ejected from the vehicle.

Today’s vehicles have multiple airbags that deploy in the event of a high-speed crash. Airbags use explosives to inflate rapidly during a collision to prevent your body from hitting hard surfaces in the interior of the car such as the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield. The airbags gently deflate in response to your body colliding with them to prevent injuries.

During a proper airbag deployment:

• The car hits something and decelerates suddenly
• Sensors in the vehicle detect extreme deceleration.
• The sensors trigger an electronic heating element, which causes the airbag explosives to go off.
• The explosions release an inert gas (nitrogen or argon) that inflates the airbags very rapidly (at over 200 mph).
• If a human body collides with an airbag, the force of the impact causes the gas to be vented, which deflates the bag and brings the human body to rest in a relatively gradual fashion (compared to the speed of the inflation) that should not cause injury.

What Causes an Airbag to Deploy Incorrectly?

The most common airbag malfunction is an airbag that doesn’t deploy during an accident when it should have, resulting in preventable injury.

However, in most cases of malfunction, the manufacturer of the car was negligent in the design, testing, or installation of the airbags. Common causes of failure to deploy correctly include:

• The airbag sensors were defective, placed incorrectly in the car, or an insufficient number of airbag sensors were built into the car.
• The electrical components that communicate signals from the airbag sensors to the airbag explosives were defective.
• Defects are present in the electronics directly controlling the airbag, preventing it from responding to the signals sent to it.
• The manufacturer placed essential components of the airbag system into places susceptible to being damaged or destroyed during a collision, rendering them inoperative before they needed to function.
• The airbag bursts, inflates too slowly, or doesn’t fully inflate, due to manufacturing defects in the airbag itself. A bursting airbag can release chemicals directly into a person’s face, causing eye, skin, and respiratory injuries.

Can I Sue the Manufacturer for Airbag Injuries?

If your airbag deployed correctly, the driver responsible for the accident would likely be liable for your injuries and other losses, including those caused by the airbag itself. However, if the airbag did not deploy correctly, the manufacturer of the airbag or vehicle may be liable for all injuries caused by the airbag’s failure to work as expected.

In that case, the injured party could file a defective product claim against the manufacturer. To get the compensation that you deserve, your lawyer does not need to prove the manufacturer was negligent. Instead, they must prove the product was defective and didn’t function the way it was supposed to.

Takata Airbag Injury Claims

The largest safety recall in U.S. history involved airbag manufacture by the major parts supplier Takata. More than 40 million vehicles manufactured from 2002 through 2015 were recalled because of defective airbags. The propellant in the airbag inflator began to fail after exposure to high heat and humidity.

The defective airbags would either explode during deployment, spraying the victims in the car with harmful chemicals and metal shrapnel, or fail to deflate fully and provide insufficient protection in the event of a car crash.

Defective Takata airbags are known to have caused 24 deaths and injured more than 300 people. Many more people are likely to have been injured by these defective airbags. If you were injured in an accident before the recall and your vehicle is on the recall list, you may be entitled to compensation and should contact an experienced airbag injury attorney right away.

Were you hurt by a defective airbag? We can help.

If you have been injured by an airbag that failed to deploy correctly or protect you from harm, you may be owed compensation for your medical bills, loss of income, and other damages. Contact an experienced product liability attorney to discuss the specifics of your case and your legal rights.

Kraft & Associates, P.C., has been helping accident victims in Dallas and the surrounding areas since 1971. Our team of attorneys is committed to seeking justice for those who have been hurt by defective products. We are ready to put our skills to work for you if we believe that you have a valid airbag injury lawsuit.

We will be ready to sit down with you and discuss the specifics of your accident during a no-cost, no-obligation consultation. When you hire us to represent you, we’ll work on a contingency-fee-basis. That means that we won’t charge you any legal fees until we recover compensation for you.

There’s no risk to reach out to us to discuss how we can help you. Call us at 214-999-9999 or reach out to us online to schedule your free case evaluation today.